The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for braking a free-wheeling vehicle, and more particularly, to a braking apparatus for a skate board.
The rapidly increasing number of serious injuries to skate board users is the cause of considerable concern among members of the medical profession and laymen as well. Such injuries result in large part from the fact that the skateboards are free-wheeling vehicles which can achieve a significant rate of speed and, in general, are not provided with means for bringing the skateboard to a controlled stop. Often, in order to stop his forward progress, the skateboard rider will simply leap from the board as it is traveling at its high rate of speed. Such action, while causing numerous injuries to the rider, is also potentially dangerous to bystanders as the skateboard continues its unmanned travel becoming an unguided missile.
It has been proposed to provide boards with braking pads attached to the rear of the board so that by shifting his weight to the rear of the board the rider can bring the braking pad into frictional engagement with the ground while raising the front wheels from the ground. This operation can be extremely precarious as the board is pivoted about its rear wheels into an essentially three-point contact with the ground. This operation is difficult to perform by the experienced rider and can therefore significantly increase the injury possibilities to one less skilled in skate board riding techniques.
Additionally, a number of prior art braking devices have been proposed, however, none of the proposed structures has met with success because of problems that each has. Among these proposed structures are those which have brake shoes or pads that are biased into engagement with the skateboard wheels. A brake lever, therefore, must be continually manually actuated by the skateboard rider to maintain the brake shoes disengaged from the wheels. Such devices significantly limit the position which the skateboard rider may assume on the board and are therefore particularly undesirable. Additionally, a number of the prior art braking devices have springs to bias the device into or out of engagement with the skateboard wheels. Under prolonged use, the springs tend to somewhat lose their biasing force, altering the handling characteristics of the brake. Additionally, the biasing springs may become disengaged entirely from the brake, resulting in a brake malfunction. Finally, typically the prior art braking devices are not readily adaptable to existing skateboards. On the contrary, the prior art braking devices incorporate substantial modifications to the conventional skateboard structure.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art braking devices in that it provides a simple, low-cost braking device which can be easily mounted to existing skateboards with a minimal amount of modification to the existing skateboard structure. In particular, to mount the present invention on existing skateboards, one must simply drill apertures in the board to receive the braking device fasteners. The present invention is also gravity biased, eliminating the need for springs that have the above discussed disadvantages.